Edo State: APC Warns Against Politics of Ethnicity Ahead of 2024
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Mr Martins Sadoh, has said that capacity of candidates should determine the choice of successor to Governor Godwin Obaseki in 2024 and not ethnicity.
Sadoh, a security expert based in the Netherlands, said this on Sunday via a statement in Benin, the Edo State capital.
He said people must entrust the governance of the State to someone who is at home with them.
He urged the people of the State to avoid the mistakes of the past where an unknown person was brought to superintend over the affairs of the State.
“Those coming with the issue of ethnic narrative are out to sacrifice competence on the altar of tribal sentiment.
“There was no time that the zoning of the
governorship seat between the three senatorial districts of the State was ever discussed nor agreed.
“For the avoidance of doubt, since 1999, aspirants from the three senatorial districts have always participated in the primaries of their political parties.
“You will recall that in 2007 when Osunbor eventually emerged as the governor, we had aspirants from Edo South, Edo Central and Edo North participating in the primaries of the (defunct) AC and PDP.
“Same was the case in PDP in 2012 while the (defunct) ACN only adopted Adams Oshiomhole, who was then the incumbent governor as their candidate.
“Have we also forgotten what played out in both APC and PDP primaries for the 2016 governorship poll? Even though Obaseki was eventually produced as the governor, both parties had aspirants from the three zones participating in the primaries,” he stated.
Sadoh, an ardent supporter of the immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mr Clem Agba, said the State must put its best foot forward, if the hope to improve on its economy and infrastructural fortune was to be guaranteed.
“Personally, and I am sure to many other Edolites, Agba seems to be the right person, armed with the requisite tool to lead the State from the present State she has found herself in.
“Agba is indeed a technocrat, who is not only at home with the people from the three senatorial districts; he is also well suited for the job, having served as a commissioner and also a minister.
“Experience he garnered in the ministerial portfolio he held for almost three years is a necessary tool needed in our dear State at this critical time,” he said.
NAN
